Carven La Perfum Eau de Parfum

Carven, a fashion house that offers inspired, yet accessible fashions, has released a new eau de parfum called Carven Le Parfum ($84-$109). The fragrance was designed to represent the idea of youthful spontaneity, Parisian elegance, and approachability. This is the first fragrance launched under the guidance of Carven's Creative Director Guillaume Henry.

I was given a sample to test. I think it's the perfect fragrance for those who want to smell pretty, like me. Fragrance fans who prefer their perfumes skanky (yes, they exist - the more noxious the better in their eyes) will not be impressed. It's too beautiful for them.

Do you know Carven? Carmen de Tommasso, born in 1909, founded the company Carven in 1945. She set up shop near Champs Elysées in Paris in France. The first fragrance under the brand name of Carven, Ma Griffe, was launched in 1946. Since then, a total of 14 fragrances have been introduced by the company, developed in collaboration with perfumers Francis Kurkdjian, Robertet, Jean Carles, and Edouard Hache.

Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, who has his own line, but creates fragrances for others, created the new Carven fragrance. It has top notes of fresh mandarin blossom, apricot, and delicate white hyacinth. The heart notes capture a bouquet of flowers that includes sweet pea, jasmine, and ylang-ylang. These notes are among my favorites. Sensuous bottom notes of sandalwood, osmanthus, and Indonesian patchouli form the woody base of Carven La Perfume. They could have left out the patchouli, and I'd be delirious, but at least it's not dominant.

If you like florals as much as I do, you will need to check out Carven. It blossoms with an abundance of flowers, which pleases me enormously. Overall, it's the kind of fragrance that will suit for every day, but also for evening or special occasions.

Kurkdjian had this to say about Carven's aura. "The Carven woman has an intuitive sense for what’s chic: she’s Parisian, sparkling, bold, and impertinent; she leaves no one indifferent. She’s beautiful without even thinking about it." He explained, "I wanted to play with the Carven values in a feminine mode: timeless elegance that also seems absolutely effortless. I wanted a fragrance that would resemble a huge bouquet of freshly cut flowers, with temperament and a lingering sillage."

The fragrance capitalizes on the "new energy and dynamism" of Carven fashion. It's modern, affordable, fresh, and pleasing. Icelandic beauty Brynja Jónbjarnardóttir embodies that youthful sentiment in the perfume’s ad campaign and described by Kurkdjian.

Thierry de Baschmakoff designed the modern, simple perfume bottle. The scent is available in three sizes: 30, 50, and 100 ml eau de parfums - a price point for every taste.

You will be seeing a lot of Carven in magazine advertisements over the coming months. In August, look for it in Vanity Fair and People Style Watch, followed in September in Elle, W, Lucky, and Allure. You can see a short video at Saks.

Carven is launching in the United States exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue tomorrow, Wednesday, July 17 (it has already launched at Harrods). It will be available in stores and online (you can pre-order it now). Perhaps not coincidentally, July 18 is electronic gift card day at Saks. For one day only, on Thursday, July 18th, Saks Fifth Avenue will be offering any customer a reward gift card with a minimum $250 purchase. Here are the details.

• Spend $250-499, receive $25
• Spend $500-999, receive $50
• Spend $1,000-1,999, receive $100
• Spend $2,000-2,999, receive $300
• Spend $3,000 or more, receive $450

If you decide to purchase Carven at its extremely reasonable prices, you'll have to purchase more than Carven to take advantage of the offer. Need any clothing?

Photos courtesy of Carven; video courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue